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Croatian minority in Slovenia

There are 54. 079 Croats living in Slovenia (based on the Croatian language as their mother tongue), whereas, based on the 1991 census, 52. 876 inhabitants of the Republic of Slovenia declared themselves as Croats. According to the 2002 census, 35,642 Croats lived in Slovenia. The number of Croats in Slovenia is decreasing, which is due to the process of integration and assimilation into the Slovenian society.According to the domestic legal provisions, Slovenia’s Croats do not have the status of a national minority. However, they do enjoy minority rights under international legal instruments binding the Republic of Slovenia, and which cove the "minorities", such as the Croat minority in Slovenia.

Status

Croats in Slovenia do not have a status of a recognized national minority and are not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia.

Associations, publishing and media

The activities of Slovenia's Croats take place through a dozen of Croatian clubs and associations with their umbrella “Association of Croatian societies,” also including several Catholic missions (Ljubljana, Maribor, Novo Mesto, Portorož). Most Croatian clubs operate in Ljubljana where most Croats live, i.e. 10,000. There is a number of Croats in Maribor and its vicinity with 10,000 people, Novo Mesto, Celje, Velenje, Koper, Piran, Portorož, Kranj, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, Lendava, and in smaller numbers in other economically developed areas.The Croatian language in the Republic of Slovenia is taught in supplementary school ( “remedial”) classes funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia. The Slovenian Ministry of Education and Sports, as of last year, allows the use of school premises in Slovenian primary schools. However, the number of Croat children attending school is very low, which only confirms that the Croats are increasingly assimilating in the Slovenian society.